Ski-like devices have been used to prevent ground damage, such as skids on a snow blower or snowplow. See for example, USPGP 2011/0315465 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,899,472 and 2,884,720. These references, however, disclose replaceable attachments for a dedicated snow blower or snowplow.
It would be desirable, for those who have a tractor or the like, to be able to use a front loader bucket (hereafter “bucket”) to move material piled above the ground, including pavement typically constructed from concrete or cement to build a road or driveway, without damaging the ground. In this respect, USPGP 2006/0288617 (Colclough) discloses attachments for a loader bucket for moving snow and the problems associated with plowing snow with a bucket attached to a tractor, namely the bucket's cutting edge damaging the ground. In the Colclough reference, a plurality of bolt-on bucket-glide attachments can be bolted on the front side of the loader bucket.
There still remains a need for a device that can convert the loader bucket for multiple uses, including material on the ground, such as snow, and moving long objects, as some examples. The present development addresses this need.